World War One

The People's Story

An outstanding cast of acclaimed British actors bring the First World War to life in this stirring documentary created to commemorate the conflict's centennial in 2014. This unique four-part series mixes archival footage with reenactments by actors playing real participants in the war and performing excerpts from their original letters, memoirs, and diaries of the time.

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I liked the format very much. Original words from letters, diaries & journals of real people from a wide variety of backgrounds. These words are spoken by actors interspersed by actual movie footage. I didn't find it to be at all confusing. I wonder if we have the strength and unselfishness it takes to pull together and defend our nation like the Brits did.

This is sort of a docudrama rather than the customary documentary. There's a considerable amount of first person sources by means of letters, diaries and journals, and memoirs with support from newsreels, photographs, etc., similar to the Ken Burns style, but actors are also portraying the individuals, mostly with the original material, but it was still a little confusing at first. Assorted people are represented from the various social backgrounds so there's a good mix. It gives just a taste of what these people thought, felt, and experienced during The Great War. I appreciate that there's a summary of each person's life after the war, if applicable. The numbers are horrific, and we're already very familiar with the trenches thanks to various movies and series. This war changed England, especially, forever; and 'Downton Abbey' does a good job of dramatizing some of the changes.